“The Department of Posts and Telecommunications will be coordinated by the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs, which will tax operators,” U Kyaw Soe said.

He added that the four operators will be able to offer mobile connections, land-line telephones, a public switchboard telephone network, information technology and internet services.

An official from MPT said: “[A telecoms corporation] will be established by the end of the year and the rules and regulations for operators will be announced. Once this process is complete, MPT will call for international tenders. The selected operators should be up and running by 2013.”

Myanmar Investment Commission and the Myanmar Socio-Economic Advisory will participate in the tender process.

A telecommunication consultancy group formed by President U Thein Sein and private tender consultant groups will assess every bid in terms of human resources and financing.

An official from MPT said: “The existing telecom sector in Myanmar is a centralised operating system, which means the public relies on a single operator. We are trying to establish a customer-focused telecommunications system that offers a choice of operators.”